


What Matters Most

by tommohoran223



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Family, Fluff and Angst, Humor, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-04-23 06:51:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19145761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommohoran223/pseuds/tommohoran223
Summary: “Look. It’s not going to be easy. Mr. Stark could be anywhere right now, but we are the only ones who can find him and bring him back to his family—and I can’t do it alone,” Peter looks up from the computer. “So will you help me?”“Tony would absolutely hate the idea of us going on a dangerous, treacherous mission to save his ass,” Harley says, crossing his arms. “So sign me the hell up, Parker. This is gonna be so much cooler than a conference.”-When Tony is kidnapped, it’s up to Peter Parker and Harley Keener to team up and find him—along with a stowaway Morgan and a little unexpected help from space. In doing so, they discover that sometimes family isn’t born, but built.





	1. Goodbye New York, Hello DC

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> I'm super excited to start this new story. Since I think the MCU will never give us the Iron Family moments that we truly deserve, this fic will at least try to make up for it. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the first chapter, and there will be many Iron Kids bonding moments to come!

Peter’s eyes snap open early Thursday morning, his body already shaking with pure excitement. His eyes dart over to look at the clock, only to see that it’s only 5:03 AM, meaning that, unfortunately, he still has an hour until Happy comes and picks him up. However, try as he might, he’s unable to go back to sleep, so he jumps out of bed, getting dressed and ready for the day as quietly as he can without waking Aunt May, who’s still asleep in the other room.

He checks the clock again, almost groaning when it reads 5:12 AM. Peter has a feeling that this is going to be one of the longest hours of his life. He glances over at his luggage, fully packed and ready to go from the night before. With nothing to do, he decides to make a nice breakfast for May before she leaves for work in a couple of hours.

For the first time, Tony had invited Peter to come along to a conference this weekend in DC that’s all about technology and inventions. Of course, Peter had said yes, perhaps a little too quickly, and was relieved when Aunt May agreed to let him go—on the condition that he doesn’t do anything as Spider-man on the trip. So at six AM sharp, Happy would pick Peter up and take him to the newly built Avenger’s compound, where they will all get onto a private plane and go straight to Washington DC.

Besides Germany, the previous time he’d been to DC, and, well, space, Peter’s never been on a real vacation before—those types of things just don’t fit into the Parker income budget. Not only that but all those trips had been centered around Spider-man stuff. Even though he loves being Spider-man, Peter is very excited to get to go on a trip as Peter Parker for a change.

Tony’s expression when Peter had said yes gave away the fact that his mentor probably feels the same way.

He’s in the middle of making pancakes when May comes out of her room, still in her pajamas. She comes up and gives him a tight hug, spatula still in his hand as he eases into it. She pulls away and looks him up and down, hands on his shoulders.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you this excited since the day Ben and I took you to the Stark Expo,” May chuckles, an eyebrow raised.

“Well I mean, I’m going to a conference with Tony Stark, where the brightest minds in the world will be,” Peter explains to her as if he hasn’t been frequently discussing with her it in the days leading up to today. He has to fight off the urge to add on a duh. “This is probably going to be the best weekend of my entire life.”

“Your entire life, huh?” May crosses her arms, her tone humorous. “What about the weekend when Tony took you to spend the day with Mark Hamill?”

Peter stops, considering her words.

“Yeah, that was a pretty awesome weekend,” he admits. He flips the pancake in the pan onto its other side. “But still. I’m pretty sure my entire life has been leading up to this conference.”

“Well, I’m sure going to miss you,” May says, giving a soft smile while resting her cheek on her palm. Peter pauses, feeling his excitement dull just a little. He flips the last pancake out of the pan and onto the plate, grabbing a bottle of syrup and sitting down at the table.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me going?” Peter asks, stacking four pancakes onto his own plate and dousing them with syrup.

“Of course,” May says quietly, putting a single pancake on her own plate and spreading butter on it with her knife.

Peter eyes her carefully while shoving a bite into his mouth hungrily. Sure, he’s been on multiple trips with Tony before, but after the events of Titan, he can see where his Aunt might be wary about letting him go out of state without her. He swallows his bite and then sets his fork down onto the table.

“Are you sure? Because if you’re not okay with this I can tell Mr. Stark I’ll go with him another time, I mean—”

“Peter, honey, _no_ ,” May cuts him off, looking at him with her deep, kind eyes. “Baby, I will always worry about you; that won’t ever change. But I trust Tony, and I know that he won’t let anything happen to you. So yes, I’m okay with you going.”

“Thanks, May,” Peter grins and goes back to scarfing down his pancakes.

Then, twenty minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. Peter practically jumps out of his chair, almost knocking back towards the floor but catching it just in time, and races to the front door, May following behind him at a lesser rate of speed. He swings the door open and decides that he’s never seen anything more beautiful than a tired, grumpy, and slightly annoyed Happy Hogan standing on his doorstep.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but still.

“You ready, kid?” Happy asks, sending May a quick glance before looking back at Peter.

“I was born ready,” Peter announces while rapidly nodding his head up and down, and Happy flinches a little at Peter’s excitement.

“Well then grab your stuff and let's go,” Happy says, checking his watch. “the plane leaves at 7 AM sharp—we’re already behind schedule.”

Peter races towards his room and grabs his suitcase, yanking the handle up and dragging it back to where Happy is impatiently waiting. Before he walks out the door, however, he throws his arms around his Aunt May, hugging her tightly.

“Be safe, and text me as soon as you get there,” May orders with a smile. “And maybe call me every once in a while and tell me all about it?”

  
“Sure thing, May,” Peter agrees, pulling away so that he’s grabbing her hand tightly.

“Hogan, you and Stark better bring my boy back in one piece on Monday, you hear?” May says threateningly, and Peter has to stop himself from laughing when Happy nervously gulps.

“I promise, Ms. Parker, this is probably the safest trip he’ll ever go on,” Happy assures her, his words quick and serious. “He’ll be just fine.”

“He’d better be,” May says before giving Peter a kiss on the cheek and gently pushing him towards the door. “Go on, don’t miss your flight. Have fun, alright? I love you.”

“Love you too, May! I’ll call you tonight!” Peter promises while stepping out the door. Happy starts walking towards the stairs, and Peter gives May one last wave before running after the bodyguard, rolling his suitcase behind him.

They get down the stairs, Happy hardly speaking a word, and Peter climbs into the back of Happy’s car while Happy puts his suitcase in the trunk. Happy gets into the front seat of the car and takes off towards Avenger’s Compound. They drive in silence, Peter scrolling through Instagram while Happy listens to the radio at its lowest possible volume.

“Hey, is May seeing anyone right now?” Happy asks suddenly, looking at Peter through the rearview mirror, doing his best to be nonchalant and failing.

“Uh, like, as in dating?” Peter frowns confusedly. “No, I… don’t think so.”

Happy just nods his head with a hum, leaving a very puzzled Peter trying to figure out what exactly that was in the first place.

“Um, why? Why, uh, do you want to know?”

“I was just wondering,” Happy shrugs, but this doesn’t answer any of the questions that are going through Peter’s mind at the moment. Does Happy like May… in a romantic way? He opens his mouth but then closes it, deciding that maybe he doesn’t want that question answered.

So they sit in silence for the rest of the drive to the Compound.

 

* * *

  
When they arrive at the Compound, Peter lets out a sigh of relief as he gets out of the car because that certainly was one of the _most awkward_ car rides Peter’s ever been in. Given that, he’s even gladder when he notices Tony approaching the car, dressed in his usual Armani suit and red tinted sunglasses. Happy busies himself with getting Peter’s suitcase out of the car, mumbling something about taking it to where the rest of the luggage is before racing off towards the direction of the plane that’s sitting on their private tarmac.

“What happened?” Tony asks, both eyebrows raised high on his forehead as he watches Happy walk away briskly.

“I really don’t know, Mr. Stark,” Peter says honestly. Again, he’s not sure he wants to know.

“Hmm. Well. You excited for this weekend, kid?” Tony puts an arm around Peter’s shoulders, squeezing his shoulder tightly.

“Yeah, totally, sir,” Peter tries to keep his voice cool, though he’s practically bursting from the seams with enthusiasm. His mentor doesn’t seem fooled, however, and gives him a real, genuine smile—a smile that not just any random person off the street would be the recipient of. “Who else is coming besides us and Happy?”

“Well, Pepper and Rhodey are coming,” Tony lists, “And we decided to bring Morgan too. We’re hoping that as long as we keep good control of her sugar intake we might make it out of this alive. Oh, and remember my other intern who lives in Tennessee that I’ve told you about? Harley? Yeah, he’s meeting us there.”

Peter does recognize the name. Although he’s never met the kid before in person, Tony had told him all about the time when his mentor had crashed a few miles out from Rose Hill, Tennessee in the middle of winter and broke into Harley’s garage. Apparently, Tony’s other intern is a genius and very tech savvy.

“I offered to fly him, but he said he prefers the eight-hour drive. Can you believe that?” Tony continues while beginning to lead Peter towards the plane. “Anyways, craziness aside, he’s right around your age so I hope you two hit it off alright.”

“Petey!”

Peter and Tony both turn around to see an energetic Morgan running towards them, Pepper trailing tiredly behind her. The little girl throws her arms around Peter’s legs joyously.

“Hey, Mo,” Peter laughs, reaching down to pat the five-year-olds head. Tony’s arm drops away from Peter’s shoulders and goes to stand next to his wife.

“We’re going on an airplane today!” Morgan cheers. Although her parents do their fair share of traveling, Morgan has only flown on a plane once or twice before. “Mommy?” Morgan lets go and turns around to face her mother, subconsciously slipping her hands into Peter’s. “Mommy, can I sit next to Peter on the plane?”

“That’s up to Peter, honey,” Pepper tells her daughter, glancing over at Peter and giving him a look that says _‘trust me, you can say no if you want’_.

But Peter doesn’t mind the prospect of Morgan sitting by him one bit. In the year after coming back from the soul stone, Peter had come to really like Morgan.

“It’s fine with me,” Peter shrugs, giving Morgan a grin.

“Really? Great! Mommy, he said it’s fine with him!” Morgan informs Pepper. Morgan then proceeds to pull Peter’s arm towards the plane, eager to get started on their adventure. “C’ mon, Petey, let's go!”

Peter glances back at Tony and Pepper to see if it’s time to board the plane yet.

“You go with them,” Pepper says to her husband. “I have to make a quick phone call before we leave.”

“Alright, but don’t be too long. We need to leave pretty soon. If Keener makes it to DC before we do, I’ll never hear the end of the ‘efficacy of driving instead of flying’ speech from him.”

Tony and Pepper share a quick kiss on the lips (“eewww!” Morgan shouts as Peter comically covers both of their eyes with his hands), and split ways, Tony leading Peter and Morgan to where they’ll board the plane while Pepper disappears inside the Compound. Happy’s standing at the bottom of the stairs that are connected to the entrance of the plain, and Peter notices that the man goes out of his way to avoid eye contact with him. Honestly, Peter’s fine with that—it’s a little too soon after their conversation in the car.

“Plane’s all ready, boss,” Happy announces to Tony, nodding towards the stairs.

“Great. Pepper should be out in just a minute, and then we can take off,” Tony says, Then, he turns to look down at his daughter. “Morgan, come hold my hand while we climb the stairs; they’re steep and I don’t want you falling back onto Peter and Happy and breaking their faces.”

Peter and Happy both shudder at the prospect of their faces being broken, sharing a glance. Perhaps that’s just what they needed to move on from the seemingly everlasting awkwardness. Peter lets go of Morgan’s hand so she can grab onto Tony’s. Although the little girl pouts in protest, she takes Tony’s hand nonetheless.

However, as soon as they’re on the plane, Morgan immediately rips away from her father and runs down the aisle, stopping in the middle and looking at all the rows, probably trying to decide which seat is the best. Peter is just in plain awe because he’s never been on a private plane as spacious and luxurious as this. Peter can’t wrap his brain around that fact that this is the life that Tony Stark lives every single day—this is just a normal Thursday for him.

After Morgan has seemingly picked which row of seats is the best, she grabs Peter’s hand and leads him to a row in the middle of the plane. She takes the window seat, of course, and motions for Peter to take the seat next to her. Tony sits in the seat across from Peter, saving a spot for Pepper by the window, and Peter catches a glimpse of his mentor smiling uncharacteristically soft when Morgan snuggles up to the teenager.

Soon, Pepper boards the plane and takes her seat, and the plane takes off into the air towards Washington DC. Morgan falls asleep soon enough, but Peter is unable to get even a wink of shut-eye—he’s bursting with too much anticipation. He sees Tony staring off into space, seemingly lost in thought with a smile on his face, and Peter can’t help but feel that his mentor feels the exact same way.

 

* * *

 

 They get to DC easily enough, and they all squeeze into a car that takes them to the hotel where the conference is taking place. When Peter steps inside the hotel lobby with his suitcase in hand, he’s blown away by how fancy this place really is. There are so many people, who are all dressed formally, ready for the three-day event, and it’s clear that this conference is only for the highest of high in the Technological industry.

Someone like Peter Parker could never get into somewhere like this by himself.

But he’s not by himself, and he follows Pepper like a puppy as she walks confidently up to the front desk to check into their hotel rooms. Morgan walks just ahead of Peter, yanking her tiny Moana suitcase as she tries but ultimately fails to walk behind her mother in a straight line. However, it’s not until Tony and Happy walk into the lobby that people really start to stare.

Peter keeps his head down as he feels dozens upon dozens of pairs of eyes looking at him, and it makes Peter realize that he’s never been in such a public place with the Stark family before—at least, not as Peter Parker. Sure, the media is all over the close interactions between Iron Man and his protege Spider-man, but he’s never been seen around Tony and his family before without his mask on.

Peter briefly worries about his secret identity and someone connecting the dots—because they’re not hard to connect at all—but shakes it off immediately. Tony and Pepper would never let that happen. He’s confident in that much.

Tony and Happy catch up to the desk, where Pepper is currently speaking to the woman working behind it.

“Hey Pete, it may take us a hot minute to check in—it’s usually a pain in the butt when you rent out a whole floor,” Tony starts, and he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. “Why don’t you take Morgan and get yourselves a snack from the vending machine over there? On me. Here’s a fifty—is that enough, do you think?”

“Mr. Stark, uh, that’s a little too much,” Peter frowns, hesitating to take the fifty dollar bill that Tony is holding out towards him.

“Oh. Well then you can just keep the change, kid,” Tony shrugs, glancing down at the bill. “And maybe get Happy a Snickers—I can feel the crankiness radiating off of him.”

He supposes he should protest a little about the amount of money Tony’s giving him, but he decides to let it go.

“Pick your battles wisely,” Pepper had once advised him after she gave Morgan another juice pop before she threw a fit.

It just so turns out that those words apply to adult billionaires as well.

So Peter takes Morgan’s hand and leads her towards the vending machines that are close to the front doors of the lobby, leaving a disgruntled Happy complaining to Tony that his exhaustion is not a joke and it should be taken seriously.

There’s a lot of choices in the vending machine, and for a five-year-old, it is in no way a choice that can be made in the span of thirty seconds. So after Peter has gotten both his bag of chips and a Snickers bar for Happy (although he has a feeling the candy will just upset the man, but again, he doesn’t want to argue with Tony), he’s casually standing by the machine while Morgan gets up real close to the glass, her eyes darting from snack to snack. Peter doesn’t even want to know what's going through her head right now.

While he’s standing there and munching on his chips, he happens to notice a boy walk through the doors. The boy is looking around the lobby in awe and overwhelmed, much like Peter did when he first walked in a few minutes ago. He has a suitcase that has probably seen better days, and his clothes, though nice enough, are nothing compared to what most of the people in the lobby are currently wearing (it actually makes Peter feel a little better about himself, because he’s now not the only sore thumb sticking out amongst everyone else). The kid seems unsure about where he’s going, and stops in his tracks, peering around as if he’s trying to find someone.

It doesn’t take Peter long to realize that the boy is probably Harley Keener.

Since the kid is only a few steps away from where he’s standing, Peter approaches him cautiously.

“Uh, hey man, are you Harley?” Peter asks just to make sure, doing his best to keep an eye on Morgan who still has not made a selection.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Harley nods, seeming grateful to not be so lost anymore. “I’m with Tony’s group, but I don’t know where he is…”

“He’s at the front desk with Pepper and Happy,” Peter tells Harley, pointing his thumb back in the general direction of the front desk. “Oh, and I’m Mr. Stark’s other intern, Peter Parker.”

Harley’s eyes light up in recognition.

“Oh yeah, Tony’s told me all about you,” Harley says. “You’re the guy who replicated Spider-man’s web fluid, right? No one else in the world besides you has managed to pull that off.”

“That’s me,” Peter nods enthusiastically, making a mental note that Harley doesn’t know Peter is Spider-man. “But forget that, aren’t you the kid who helped Mr. Stark when he crash-landed in Tennessee and helped him take down the Mandarin? That’s, like, crazy cool.”

“How about we agree that we’re both pretty smart and that’s probably why we’re Tony’s only interns?” Harley compromises with an eyebrow raised. Peter’s about to agree, but is cut off by Morgan.

“Peter, I’ve made my choice!” She announces, stepping back and looking proudly at the machine. Peter steps back over to the machine, Harley following.

“Alright Mo, what’ll it be?”

“Skittles!” Morgan says confidently. Peter nods and puts the money in, pressing B5 for the skittles.

“You want anything?” Peter asks Harley, glancing back at the kid. “Mr. Stark gave me a fifty dollar bill.”

“To get stuff from the vending machines? Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”

“Thank you!” Peter sighs. Finally, someone who’s not insane or rich (or possibly both). “But honestly, sometimes it’s better to go with the flow when it comes to Mr. Stark.”

“His loss,” Harley shrugs. “I’ll get M&M’s.”

Peter gives Morgan her skittles and punches in the buttons for M&M’s, pulling them out and tossing them into Harley’s waiting hands.

“We should probably get back before Mrs. Potts think’s we’ve been kidnapped or something,” Peter suggests, and he leads Morgan and Harley back over to the front desk where the adults are waiting for them.

“Harley!” Tony’s face breaks out into a smile, and he comes up and puts an arm around the kid’s shoulders. “How was the drive? Long? Boring? Stupid?”

“Relaxing,” Harley corrects, a smirk on his face. “Don’t knock it till you try it, old man.”

“Whatever,” Tony says while playfully rolling his eyes. “I see you’ve met Peter, and you know Morgan, though I think it’s been a while since you’ve seen her.”

“I don’t remember you,” Morgan frowns, chewing on a Skittle.

“Well you’ll have plenty of time to be acquainted this weekend,” Pepper says with a smile. She holds out two sets of keycards, handing one to Peter and the other to Harley. “These are your room keys. We’re all on the same floor, so if you need anything, don’t hesitate to come to ours or Happy’s room.”

“Please, do hesitate to come to mine,” Happy grumbles as they start walking towards the elevator. All of the suitcases have already been taken up.

“That reminds me—Happy, here’s your Snickers bar,” Peter says, giving the older man the candy bar. Though Happy seems rather, well, unhappy with the connotation, he still unwraps it and takes a bite. Tony chuckles at the interaction.

“Alright kiddos, go and take thirty minutes to settle into your hotel rooms,” Tony orders as the elevator lets them out onto their floor, clapping his hands together. “Then, we’ll meet in my room. Alright? Don’t be late; only I’m allowed to be late to things. Get excited, give yourself a pep talk in the mirror because it’s conference time!”

Yeah, Peter thinks to himself as they all split and he enters his hotel room, this is going to be the best day ever.


	2. Conferences Are Boring, Catapults Are Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hello, sir,” Peter waves politely. Harley just gives a nod in greeting.
> 
>  
> 
> “Now, I was under the impression that Stark Industries doesn’t have interns,” Dr. Crawford tilts his head in confusion.
> 
>  
> 
> “We usually don’t,” Tony agrees, and he gives a soft, proud smile that Peter doesn’t see very often. “But Harley and Peter are super intelligent kids. You should see the things these two can accomplish.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, this took a while for me to get up. Sorry about that, it's been a super busy couple of weeks. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Peter has never seen a hotel room like the one he’s staying in now before. 

 

Sure, the hotel room he’d stayed in when he was in Germany was very nice, because Tony Stark doesn’t accept anything less than “very nice”, but since they had been trying to keep a low profile it hadn’t been near as grand as this hotel room. In fact, he’s pretty sure one night at this hotel room is worth more than an entire year's worth of rent for his apartment back in Queens—and it’s as big, if not bigger too. 

 

The first thing he does when he goes into his room is flop back onto the king size bed, his arms and legs splayed out like a starfish. The ceiling has so many intricate designs and patterns woven into its texture, a huge chandelier hanging from the center. Yeah, this is the life of luxury. 

 

Peter’s not quite sure how much he actually likes it yet. 

 

As it turns out, thirty minutes really drags out when you’re staring at the clock waiting for the moment when today’s fun can begin. To fill in the time, he makes good on his promise to May and calls her, telling her everything that’s happened since they’d seen each other early this morning (besides the whole "Happy asking if May is single" thing, but Peter wants to keep that one to himself for the time being). 

 

Then, he opens his suitcase, realizing that he really can’t be seen with Tony Stark wearing a t-shirt and khaki pants. Even Harley was more dressed up than that, although his clothes are unironed and seem to make the boy feel uncomfortable. So Peter pulls on a pair of dress pants and a blue button-up shirt, finishing the look with a brown belt that used to be his Uncle Ben’s. After he spends five minutes styling his hair with his fingers, he glances at the clock and finds that it’s been exactly twenty-nine minutes. 

 

Eh, close enough. Peter doesn’t feel like waiting any longer. 

 

Luckily, when he knocks on the Stark’s hotel room door, Harley is the one who opens it—meaning that Peter certainly isn’t too early. Happy is sitting on the couch, looking much happier than he had half an hour ago; Tony must have known what he was doing when he told Peter to get the man a Snickers. Morgan is curled up into Happy’s side, intently watching a kids TV show. 

 

“Alright kiddies, are we all ready to go?” Tony asks, coming out of his and Pepper’s shared bedroom. Peter and Harley both nod their heads. “Good. Happy, you’re staying with the girls, right?”

 

“Yeah, boss.”

  
  


“Daddy, I wanna go with you and the boys!” Morgan whines, sliding off the couch and running over to stand in front of her dad. Tony sighs and squats down so that he’s at her level. 

 

“I know, sweetheart, and you’ll be able to hang out with us tomorrow, I promise.”

 

“Why not today though?” Morgan pouts while stamping her foot onto the carpeted hotel floor. 

 

“Because I’m taking Peter and Harley to do intern stuff. But we’ll meet up with you guys for lunch in a few hours, okay?” Tony offers a compromise, and Morgan hesitates before slowly nodding her head in agreement.

 

“Okay,” Morgan says quietly, and Peter’s heart begins to break at her sad expression—he’s pretty close to begging Tony to let the little girl come.

 

“Great. Now if you don’t hurry, Happy will steal your spot on the couch,” Tony points out, causing Happy’s usual glower to inch back onto his face. Morgan’s eyes go wide and she runs over to the couch, once again claiming her spot. 

 

After Pepper comes out and waves them goodbye, Tony herds Peter and Harley out the door and into the hallway. He slides his red-tinted sunglasses onto his face.

 

“Okay, I have a few rules for you guys. Actually, I just have one,” Tony starts once the door is closed behind him, looking back and forth between both boys. “Don’t do anything that would embarrass me in front of my smart people friends. Got it?”

 

“That’s a really vague rule, Mr. Stark…” Peter says with a frown because he’s already imagining many things he could end up doing that would be cause for embarrassment. “Can you be more specific?” 

 

“Yeah, I also could use some clarifications on what that entails,” Harley agrees. 

 

“The very fact that you need me to clarify what that means does not bode well for this weekend,” Tony huffs, rolling his eyes. “But if you’re going to make me spell it out for you—Pete, try not to ramble on and on about movies or pop culture in general. These people either don’t get it at all or are nerds like you, and that won’t look good on me. That also includes Star Wars.”

 

Peter blushes because he doesn’t  _ try _ to do those things. It’s just how his brain is wired. This may be a difficult weekend to get through. 

 

Tony turns to Harley, whose arms are crossed, a smirk on his face as if he knows exactly what the billionaire's going to say.

 

“The same pop culture ban goes to you too, Keener, on top of the usual no-pranks rule. Speaking of, where’s your water balloon gun?”

 

Harley’s smirk disappears. 

 

“It’s not a gun, it’s a catapult.”

 

“Gun, catapult, rocket launcher—whatever. Where is it, Keener? I know you brought it.”

 

Harley stands still for a moment, giving Tony an annoyed glare before reaching into his backpack and pulling out the water balloon catapult device in question. Peter can only stare at it because damn it looks so cool. 

 

“Sometimes it's the only way to get the old guys to stop droning on and on,” Harley protests, but Tony simply holds out his hand, sniffing and raising an eyebrow. Harley grumbles before surrendering the device into Tony’s outstretched hand. Tony goes back over to his hotel room door, using his key card to open it before stepping inside. 

 

The door shuts. Harley drops his arms, leaning back against the wall, looking defeated. 

 

“That catapult was half the reason I came to this conference,” Harley laments. 

 

“It looked super cool,” Peter offers weakly. 

 

If it wasn’t for Peter’s super hearing, he wouldn’t have been able to hear what Tony was saying inside the hotel room. “Happy, keep this hidden from Keener until the end of the conference, alright? We don’t need a catastrophe on our hands.” The door opens again, and Tony comes back out, a triumphant smile on his face. “Don’t worry, kid, you’ll get the balloon gun back.”

 

_ “Catapult!” _

 

“Whatever. Let’s just get going to the conference, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Daylight is burning!”

  
  


* * *

  
  


Even though the balloon catapult is gone, Peter still finds himself having a good time, and even Harley stops mourning his loss and starts to join in on the fun. The conference is everything Peter had been dreaming of and more. There are so many great scientific minds gathered in the same space, and every single one that he manages to talk to enthralls him to the point where he’s completely speechless. 

 

With Tony there, he’s able to speak to more people than they would be able to on their own. Everyone at the conference wants to get a word in with the great Tony Stark, and they don’t go three minutes at a time without someone approaching. This is the first time when Peter realizes just how crazy his situation is—he’s one of the two lucky kids in the world that gets to be Tony Stark’s intern. After all the time spent with him, he’s not starstruck anymore by Iron Man’s presence—his mentor is just a normal person in Peter’s eyes. That is, as normal as Tony can get. 

 

Peter’s not used to this. After all, he’s just a kid from the streets of Queens, so it’s safe to say that all the attention is bothering him a little. Harley, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care about all the eyes on him. Peter can’t help but envy the boy a bit because not only does he seems comfortable being in the spotlight, but he has a bond with Tony that Peter wishes he could have with his mentor. 

 

Obviously, there’s a lot of history between the two—the Mandarin was a big deal—but there’s a part of Peter that wishes he could have something like that too. 

 

He shakes the jealousy off and locks it away. It isn’t productive, and Harley is a nice guy—Peter can see himself being friends with the kid.

 

After listening to a speech by a man who’s the mind behind self-driving cars, Tony leads his interns backstage.

 

“Mr. Tony Stark!” the man, Chester Crawford booms upon seeing Tony. He’s tall and slightly round, a cheerful expression is displayed on his face. He instantly abandons the people he’d been speaking with to swiftly approach Tony and hold out his hand. 

 

“Hello, Dr. Crawford,” Tony nods, reaching out and shaking his hand. Then, he turns to look at Peter and Harley. “These are my interns, Peter Parker, and Harley Keener. We really enjoyed your presentation.”

 

“Hello, sir,” Peter waves politely. Harley just gives a nod in greeting. 

 

“Now, I was under the impression that Stark Industries doesn’t have interns,” Dr. Crawford tilts his head in confusion. 

 

“We usually don’t,” Tony agrees, and he gives a soft, proud smile that Peter doesn’t see very often. “But Harley and Peter are super intelligent kids. You should see the things these two can accomplish.”

 

“If Tony Stark creates an internship for you, you must be a very talented individual,” Dr. Crawford comments. He reaches into his pocket and fishes out business cars, handing one to each boy. “Please, if you’re ever interested, I’d love to give either of you a job at my company. Though I’m sure you must have jobs at SI lined up already.” 

 

“Wow, thank you so much,” Peter manages, staring at the card. He’d just been offered a job, and he hasn’t even graduated  _ high school  _ yet. 

 

Tony and Dr. Crawford chat for a little while longer before Dr. Crawford is pulled away by someone else. Tony leads Peter and Harley out of the auditorium, checking his watch. 

 

“It’s almost time to meet the others for lunch,” Tony announces, and on cue, Peter’s stomach grumbles. The pancakes he’d made for breakfast this morning seem like ages ago. “We should probably start heading down. Pepper picked out a sandwich place.”

 

“I haven’t made a pop culture reference once, Mr. Stark,” Peter boasts proudly. “And you don’t know how hard that is for me to do.” 

 

“I’m proud of you, Pete,” Tony says, his tone amused. “You too, Keener. You only complained about your balloon gun once.”

 

Harley doesn’t even bother to correct the man this time. 

 

“Oh and also, just so you know,” Tony continues, glancing over at each of them. “Crawford was right. I do have jobs lined up for you two. Very good, well paying jobs.”

 

Peter had suspected as much. 

 

“I’m not moving to New York,” Harley deadpans. 

 

“Doesn’t matter. You’ll still have a job,” Tony says with a shrug. “And if you guys would let me, I would already be paying you for your internships. I don’t understand why you won’t.”

 

“Because of  _ our pride _ , Mr. Stark,” Peter tells the billionaire. Harley nods in agreement, but Tony just rolls his eyes. 

 

“Whatever. But I  _ am _ paying your college tuition. Don’t even try to argue with me about that.”

 

They don’t. Sometimes, arguing with Tony is absolutely pointless. 

 

You pick and choose your battles.

 

They move through the hallways, people turning to look at Tony and his interns pass through. Harley and Peter walk side by side, and Peter has to admit that the other kid is a whole lot of fun. Harley often leans over to whisper something snarky or sarcastic about someone they’d just seen, and Peter laughs out loud every time, causing Tony to glance back at them suspiciously. 

 

Suddenly, Tony halts abruptly, Peter and Harley almost running into him from behind. 

 

“Why’d we stop?” Harley asks, peering around their mentor’s figure to try and pinpoint what had captured Tony’s attention. However, Tony’s response raises even more questions because all he does is simply raise his hand toward Peter and Harley—a rather serious order to be quiet.

 

“Tony!” A voice calls from further down the hall. Peter looks past Tony to see a nicely dressed man walking towards them, a grin on his face. The man is taller than Tony so he peers down at the billionaire, even with Tony’s height boosting shoes. 

 

“Sanders,” Tony nods, and though it’s hard to tell, Peter notices that his mentor’s smile is fake. “Fancy seeing you here.”

 

“That it is, Stark,” Sanders agrees, stopping to stand in front of the billionaire. “Damn, it’s been so long, hasn’t it? What—twenty, thirty years?”

 

“Something like that, yes,” Tony says stiffly. Peter and Harley share a glance.

 

“Oh, and who’s this?” Sanders asks, shifting his attention to the boys. 

 

“These are my interns,” Tony answers, seemingly unwilling to give the man any more information. Tony’s slight side step so that he’s standing right in front of them doesn’t go unnoticed. 

 

“Ah, I see,” Sanders nods in understanding. He flicks his eyes back to Tony. 

 

“If you’ll excuse us, we’re meeting people for lunch very soon,” There’s no friendliness in Tony’s tone as he starts to move forward, motioning with his hand for Peter and Harley to follow him. 

 

“Well then I’ll walk with you for a bit,” Sanders offers, but he doesn’t wait for Tony to approve before falling into step with him. “I don’t have anywhere to be, and I’d love to catch up with an old friend.”

 

Tony doesn’t say anything while he simply continues to walk. 

 

“Why’s Tony acting so weird?” Harley asks Peter quietly enough so the men in front of them can’t hear him. 

 

“I dunno,” Peter shrugs, biting his lip. He can feel his Spider-sense tingling. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

 

“So, the stock for Stark Industries has never been higher,” Sanders comments casually. 

 

“Well, Pepper is an amazing CEO,” Tony says, looking straight as he walks. 

 

“I’m sure she is,” Sanders agrees. They walk in silence for a moment before the man speaks again. “Any plans for retirement in the near future for you two?”

 

“We’ve discussed it.”

 

“Well if you do, your daughter is far too young to take over any time soon—if she even wants to take over. What then?”

 

“What are you asking?” Tony asks, turning his head to look at Sanders, and Peter sees his mentor’s eyes are narrowed. 

 

“Do you have an heir lined up?”

 

Tony raises an eyebrow, turning his head to look straight again. 

 

“We have some candidates in mind,” Tony answers. “We haven’t asked them yet, though.”

 

“Them? As in more than one?”

 

“You know, I really don’t see this as your business,” Tony stops again, turning and facing the taller man. “When we choose an heir, you’ll read all about it in the news. For now, though, we’re going to lunch—without you. So if  _ you’ll excuse us _ .” 

 

Tony walks away, leaving a confused Sanders. It takes Peter and Harley both a second to recover from the surprise of Tony’s abrupt departure from the conversation. 

 

“Let’s go, kids,” Tony calls over his shoulder at the boys. They both jog to catch up to their mentor, who’s walking rather quickly. They get onto an elevator, and once the elevator doors close shut Peter hears Tony sigh in relief. 

 

“Uh, Mr. Stark? Who was that?” Peter asks cautiously because obviously, Tony is not a fan of that guy. 

 

“Doesn’t matter,” Tony says with a wave of his hand. “Just a guy who used to work with my dad back in the day.”

 

Peter nods, deciding not to pry anymore. Harley remains silent for once, staring at the elevator doors with his hands in his pockets. The doors finally open, the sandwich restaurant right down the hall. They get off in silence, walking towards the restaurant where the others are waiting for them. 

 

“Hey,” Tony’s voice stops them, and Harley and Peter both turn around to look at their mentor. Peter hasn’t seen his face that serious since Titan. “If that guy tries to talk to you guys, find me or Happy. Alright?”

 

“Yeah, okay.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Tony nods, content, adjusting the sunglasses on his face. Then, a smile spreads onto his face. “Cool. Now let’s go get lunch!” He walks away, leaving Peter and Harley to exchange another look. 

 

Who is Sanders, and why does Tony not want them to talk to him?

 

Peter can’t shake off the feeling that something about that conversation just wasn’t right.

 

* * *

 

“Petey, I saved a seat for you!” Morgan announces as Peter enters the restaurant with Tony and Harley. She gestures to the chair right next to her own. Pepper and Happy are sitting on the other side of the table, along with Rhodey, who must have gotten here later than the rest of their group did. 

 

“Hey, kid,” Rhodey greets Peter, holding out his hand for a high five. 

 

“Hey, Colonel, good to see you,” Peter says, high fiving the man. Rhodey gives him a look.

 

“What have I told you about calling me that?” Despite the Colonel’s words, there’s no anger in his tone. “It’s Rhodey, kid.”

 

“Sorry, it’s a habit,” Peter says sheepishly.

 

“Peter, sit next to me!” Morgan demands from where she’s sitting, crayons in hand as she colors in the paper kids menu. Peter complies with her demands, a grin on his face as Pepper shakes her head in frustration. 

 

“Hey, Mo, what have you been doing today?” Peter asks the girl. 

 

“Not much. I went to some of Mommy’s meetings,” Morgan shrugs. “Conrences are boring.”

 

“Conferences,” Pepper corrects her daughter. 

 

“Oh, yeah. Conferences are boring,” Morgan fixes her previous statement, and Peter can’t help but laugh. Tony takes a seat next to Pepper, and Harley sits next to Peter. 

 

“So, how has the conference been so far, boys?” Pepper asks, looking back and forth from Peter and Harley. 

 

“It hasn’t been boring for us,” Peter tells her, glancing over at Morgan, who has gone back to focusing on her coloring. “We got to meet Dr. Chester Crawford!”

 

“Courtesy of moi,” Tony interjects, sipping his glass of water. 

 

Peter continues to gush on and on about their day, with Tony and Harley adding to the conversation every once in a while. 

 

The rest of the day goes somewhat like the first part. They all meet again for dinner around seven before going back to their hotel floor and hanging out in Tony and Pepper’s room. When it hits nine o'clock, Pepper puts Morgan to bed before ordering Peter and Harley to go back to their rooms and go to bed as well. 

 

“You two have a very early morning ahead of you,” Pepper reasons as they groan. “You need as much sleep as you can get.”

 

“Pepper’s right, guys. Besides, we want to go to bed too,” Tony says from where he’s lounging on the hotel couch. 

 

“Only old people go to bed at nine o’clock,” Harley points out in protest.

 

“And as two old people, we’d like to go to bed,” Tony replies, a loose smile on his face. 

 

“Fine,” Harley concedes, and after a few quick goodnights, he and Peter are both out in the hallway.

 

“Well I guess that’s that,” Peter sighs, getting ready to head back to his hotel room. “I mean, there’s only so much fun you can have at a science conference, right?”

 

“Maybe,” Harley nods. Then, with a grin on his face, he reaches into his backpack and pulls out the water balloon catapult. “But we haven’t reached our limit yet. I have a bag full of water balloons—it’s literally kind of all I packed. Want to go to the roof and shoot them at all the sciency people?”

 

Peter stares at the catapult before grinning a mischievous grin, nodding his head enthusiastically. 

 

And they do just that. They go to the roof, fill up a bunch of balloons using an attached hose on the roof, and catapult them onto a bunch of unsuspecting conference attendees. Peter doesn’t think he’s laughed this hard in a long time. 

 

“Tony said he has an heir picked out. Any idea who they could be?” Harley asks as he flings his water balloon into the air. 

 

“No, but I’m guessing they’re trying to keep it under wraps,” Peter theorizes, filling up another water balloon. “We should ask him tomorrow.”

 

“Something tells me he’s not just going to give his heir’s identity to a couple of interns.”

 

“Maybe, maybe not. Hey, this has got to go against Tony’s rule about not making him look bad,” Peter realizes as he carefully aims the loaded balloon catapult at the back of a man’s poor balding head. They’ve been doing this for over two hours now.

 

“Eh, who gives a shit?” Harley shrugs, in the process of filling up another balloon. “Besides, he already looks bad on his own. A couple of innocent interns can’t do much to taint his image.”

 

Peter is about to launch the balloon into the air before the door to the roof slams open, revealing a worried and flustered Happy Hogan, phone held up to his ear. Peter accidentally lets go of the balloon in surprise, sending it flying far past his initial target. Harley doesn’t do anything, just continues to fill his balloon, and Peter is so sure that they’re going to get the screaming of a lifetime. 

 

“Oh, thank god, you guys are up here,” Happy sighs, trying to catch his breath, and Peter becomes confused because Happy doesn’t seem the slightest bit angry. In fact, he doesn’t even seem to realize what they're doing. Then, into the phone, he says, “They’re up here, Pepper.”

 

Happy takes a better look around the roof, a frown befalling his face. 

 

“Wait, where’s Tony?”

 

“What? Isn’t he in bed?” Peter asks. 

 

“No, he got out of bed an hour ago and Pepper hasn’t seen him since. We figured he was with you guys,” Happy explains scratching his head. 

 

“Well he’s not with us,” Harley states the obvious, glancing around the roof as if waiting for Tony to magically appear. 

 

“Shit,” Happy curses. Then, into the phone, “Pepper, the kids are up here but Tony isn’t.”

 

“Could he be with Rhodey or something?” Peter questions the bodyguard. Happy doesn’t bother to answer.

 

“Alright, Pepper, I’m bringing them down to your room.”

 

He hangs up, motioning for the boys to follow him. 

 

Tony isn’t with Rhodey, Peter later discovers. Harley and Peter both sit in the Stark’s hotel living room as Happy, Rhodey and Pepper, and the DC police all go looking for Tony. Hours pass by, with the boys unable to get a wink of sleep, all the fun from the roof forgotten. 

 

Then, at two o’clock in the morning, Happy comes back to the hotel room with Tony’s red-tinted sunglasses in his hands and a grim look on his face. 

 

Tony Stark is officially declared missing the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!
> 
> Also, happy father's day to our favorite IronDad, Tony Stark! (And RDJ as well, while we're at it. He is the father of the MCU so...)


	3. Sounds Like A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No matter who he is, this guy has Mr. Stark,” Peter continues, gesturing at the computer screen. “So we need to find out where he is.”
> 
>  
> 
> “We? As in, you and me?” Harley furrows his eyebrows.
> 
>  
> 
> “I, uh, I guess you don’t have to, but…” Peter sighs. His eyes fall onto the computer screen, training on the picture of Reeves. “Look. It’s not going to be easy. Mr. Stark could be anywhere right now, but we are the only ones who can find him and bring him back to his family—and I can’t do it alone,” Peter looks up from the computer. “So will you help me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've planned out for this fic to have nine chapters, but it could be ten—idk lol. 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter. All the love! :)

The next day, the conference is fully locked down, with no one allowed to enter or exit the building until further notice. 

 

Peter sits next to the window, watching as both the police and the FBI continue to swarm the hotel in numbers down on the ground, At some point a little bit ago, he saw Pepper and Happy down below talking to people, but he’s long since lost them in the crowd. People are shouting and sirens are whirling as everyone asks themselves the same question: what happened to Tony Stark?

 

“It won’t be long until the press catches on.”

 

Peter glances back at Harley, who’s sitting on the hotel couch and looking down at the same spot Peter had previously been watching. Next to him, Morgan watches some kids TV program. At first glance, she seems to be blissfully unaware of her father’s disappearance, but then Peter catches her sneak a worried look at him and realizes that Morgan is the opposite of stupid. She knows something is up at the very least.

 

“I just don’t get it,” Harley continues, trying to keep his voice down as to not draw Morgan’s attention. “How does someone like him just…  _ vanish _ ?”

 

Earlier in the night, while they were waiting for some sort of news from Happy or Pepper, they had hacked into the hotel’s security cameras and watched as a grainy Tony walked right out of his hotel room and did just that—he vanished. The camera showed that the hallway was empty the moment Tony stepped into it.

 

Peter stands up from the window and crosses the living room to pick up Tony’s red-tinted sunglasses that are resting on the table—the same sunglasses the mechanic had been wearing when he’d left his hotel room. He studies them closely, wearing a frown on his face as he examines every part of the sunglasses. Then, in a moment of curiosity, he slides the sunglasses onto his face. 

 

Immediately, the sunglasses start projecting blue holographic lines and shapes. Yup—these glasses have FRIDAY connected to them, much like every pair of glasses Tony owns. Peter quickly whips them off, stumbling back a step, then looks up at Harley, who’s watching him intently. 

 

“He was wearing these when he was last seen, right?” Peter asks. Harley stands up, approaching the table and opening up Peter’s old laptop that Peter had brought to the conference, pulling up the hotel security footage from 10:33 pm. Low and behold, Peter’s right—Tony had slipped them on just before he left the hotel room. 

 

“Looks like it,” Harley confirms, his eyes glued to the computer screen. “Did Happy say where they found them?”

 

“No, but FRIDAY can,” Peter says, holding the glasses out so that Harley can take a look at them. “I’m pretty sure she records everything.”

 

“We’ll have to hack into her database through your computer,” Harley grimaces at the idea. “But dude, your computer is super old. Like, prehistoric. The dinosaurs probably watched anime on it—if they could even get it to load anything.”

 

“At least I  _ have _ a computer,” Peter huffs, crossing his arms. “You didn’t even bring yours.”

 

“I didn’t know we’d be hacking into Tony Stark’s freaking AI database,” Harley points out. “What I’m trying to say is that this is going to take a while.”

 

Harley raises his hands to the keyboard, about to click out of the security footage, but freezes, staring at the screen. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Peter furrows his eyebrows, his eyes darting from the computer screen to Harley’s unreadable face. 

 

“Look,” Harley points at the 10:33 pm hallway footage that Tony had disappeared into. “See how that light on the wall keeps flickering the same amount of times in a second?”

 

Peter bends over to look closer at the screen. Sure enough, the light is flickering as if…

 

“The footage is on a loop,” Harley breathes, his eyes going wide. “Someone tampered with the footage.” They both stare at the screen, watching the footage of the gray light flickering, wondering who could have possibly done this and… why?

 

The hotel door opens. Harley slams the laptop shut, spinning away from it as to deter focus from it. Peter jumps at least three feet in the air, twisting around to see Happy Hogan enter the room. The defeated look on Happy’s face doesn’t make Peter feel any better. 

 

“Hey, Happy,” Peter greets the bodyguard cautiously, taking a few steps towards him, but making sure not to get too close. “Any luck?”

 

“What the hell do you think?” Happy growls, narrowing his eyes. However, his expression softens after he notices Morgan watching him from the couch, where she’s curled up under a blanket, her favorite stuffed Iron Man doll clutched close to her chest. “Sorry,” he apologizes gruffly, moving to sit onto the couch next to the little girl. Peter sits at the table next to Harley, resting his elbow on the table, chin in his palm. “Are you guys doing okay?”

 

“Yeah,” Morgan nods, TV show forgotten at this point. “Are we going to eat soon, Happy?”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Peter sees Harley open the computer back up, angling it so that Happy—and in turn, Peter as well—can’t see the screen. He begins typing, slower than usual as to keep the keys from loudly clicking. Peter turns back to look at Morgan and Happy. 

 

“I can bring you something,” Happy offers, his voice loads kinder than before. “What would you like?”

 

“Cheeseburgers,” Morgan requests, her eyes wide with innocent hope that absolutely no one could ever resist. At least, Peter knows he couldn’t. 

 

“Alrighty then,” Happy nods, standing back up. “Peter, Harley, I’m getting Burger King. Do you guys want anything?”

 

“Yeah, uh, I’ll just get a burger and a Coke,” Peter says, trying to keep Happy’s attention on him so he doesn’t get suspicious of Harley. 

 

“I’ll get the same,” Harley adds, glancing up at the bodyguard, giving a smile that is way too sweet to be real. “Thanks, man.”

 

“Okay,” Happy raises an eyebrow, looking back and forth between Peter and Harley. “I’ll be back in half an hour. There’s a lot of traffic right now. And hey—no funny business, you two.”

 

“What do you mean?” Peter asks as if he doesn’t know exactly what Happy is saying. 

 

“It means no doing things you shouldn’t be. I’m in charge of keeping you three safe—help me out with that, okay?” 

 

“You’ve got it, Happy,” Peter smiles cheerfully, giving a thumbs up for good measure. Happy gives him one last suspicious look before leaving the room. As soon as the door closes, Peter drops the smile, moving so that he can see the computer screen. “How far have you gotten?”

 

“Not too far, but luckily that shouldn’t be a problem,” Harley says, now typing as fast as he’s physically able to. “FRIDAY’s footage from yesterday isn’t buried too far down into Tony’s database. I should be able to get to it in about… ten minutes, maybe. Hopefully.”

 

Peter nods and falls silent, letting Harley concentrate. While Harley continues to try and get into the database, Peter’s eyes fall on Morgan, who has scooted over to the edge of the couch so that she can watch the commotion going outside down below. She seems sad, and Peter’s heart clenches with determination. 

 

He has to find Tony. He can not—will not—let Morgan grow up without a father. 

 

He’ll do whatever it takes. 

 

The time drags on, the only noise in the room the sound of the TV and the clock ticking on the wall. Peter can’t stop thinking about what could have happened to his mentor, and where he is now. A small part of him wonders if Tony’s even still alive, but Peter shoves that thought away. He has to believe that he’s still alive. He has to. There’s no other option. 

 

“I’m in,” Harley announces, leaning back and turning the laptop to Peter can see the screen as well. A file is pulled up, and soon a video starts playing. 

 

It starts when Tony puts on his sunglasses, fully dressed. The hotel room is dark, and the camera passes over to look at a sleeping Pepper before turning and walking out of the hotel room. Tony walks down the hallway, unusually quiet, and Peter starts to wonder if the audio is messed up. Tony goes into an elevator, pressing the “floor 19” button (Peter makes a mental note of that). When the elevator doors open, Tony walks down the dark hallway, and briefly, he glances down at his Stark phone.

 

Peter notices a message displayed on the home screen of Tony’s phone, but its resolution is too small to be able to make out what it says. 

 

_ “FRIDAY?” _ Tony’s voice finally says as he stops in front of a door—room 1905. _ “Activate Protocol Blue.” _

 

_ “Right away, boss.” _

 

“Protocol Blue?” Harley frowns. “What’s that?”

 

“No clue,” Peter says, just as confused. 

 

Tony knocks on the door, and for a moment, no one answers. Then, a dark shadowy figure opens the door, pulls Tony in roughly by the shirt, causing the sunglasses to fall off of Tony’s face and onto the floor. There’s some struggling in the background before suddenly everything goes silent, and whoever grabbed Tony had then left the room, presumably taking their mentor with him. 

 

Harley fast forwards until four hours later, where Happy picks up the glasses. Then, the screen goes dark. Peter continues to stare at the screen, trying to comprehend everything he’d just seen. Fear starts to prick at his insides, and he doesn’t want to let himself think about what would happen if Tony isn’t alive. 

 

“Well, shit,” Harley says quietly, no sarcasm in his tone for once. This is the most emotional Peter has seen his fellow intern show since meeting him yesterday morning. He looks worried, and that just makes Peter even more frightened, because things certainly aren’t looking bright if Harley is worried. 

 

“Does the FBI have this?” Peter questions, glancing at the window where he knows dozens upon dozens of FBI agents are swarming around, looking for any and all evidence. 

 

“Most likely,” Harley answers, leaning back in his chair, staring at the screen as if waiting for more answers to magically show themselves. “I’m pretty sure Pepper has quick access to this. Surely this would be the first thing they’d look at.”

 

There’s a beat of silence. 

 

“They’re gonna find him, right?” Peter can feel his voice shake as he looks out the window. The sun is starting to set behind the trees. It’s hard to believe that twenty-four hours ago they had been at dinner with everyone else, having a great time. 

 

“They’d better,” Harley bites his lip. “I was totally gonna take that job he has lined up for me.” He tries to play that last part off as a joke, but the crack in his voice gives him away. 

 

He’s just as worried as everyone else. 

 

Of course, he is. After all, Tony is Harley’s mentor too.

 

They’re in the same boat. 

 

They sit there in silence for a bit, listening to the commotion happening outside. 

 

“I just wish there was something I could do,” Peter whispers. He hates feeling powerless—but there’s nothing he can do. It’s up to the adults to find him. 

 

“Me too,” Harley agrees. “I just—why the hell would he just walk in and get kidnapped like that? He obviously knew what was gonna happen. I didn’t know he’s _ that _ stupid.”

 

“There’s something we’re not seeing yet,” Peter reasons with a half sigh. “Mr. Stark always knows what he’s doing.”

 

“Not all the time,” Harley says darkly. 

 

Suddenly, the computer pings. They both lean over to see a facial recognition being run on the shadowy figure’s face from the video. A profile of a burly man with a mustache is pulled up. 

 

“Charles Reeves,” Peter reads aloud, “Ex-convict—he was convicted of multiple assault charges, but got out on parole.”

 

“Damn,” Harley whistles lowly, “this guy looks like a bad guy for sure.”

 

“He works for Sanders Incorporated now,” Peter continues. “They’re a rival to Stark Industries, but they’re not much of a threat. Compared to SI they’re pretty small.”

 

“The real question is: what do they want with Tony? Ransom money?”

 

“If they wanted ransom then surely we would have heard from them by now, right?” Peter says with a shake of his head. 

 

“Well I mean, this Reeves guy doesn’t look like the sharpest tool in the shed,” Harley comments, leaning in closer to get a better look at the guy’s picture. 

 

“Yeah, well, neither did Thanos,” Peter recalls the big bad alien titan, and how close they had come to losing. Luckily, they had managed to get the gauntlet off of Thanos’ hand, rendering him powerless. 

 

Harley nods in understanding. Obviously, Tony must have told him about their space adventure. 

 

“No matter who he is, this guy has Mr. Stark,” Peter continues, gesturing at the computer screen. “So we need to find out where he is.”

 

“We? As in, you and me?” Harley furrows his eyebrows, pushing his blond hair back. 

 

“I, uh, I guess you don’t have to, but…” Peter sighs. His eyes fall onto the computer screen, training on the picture of Reeves. “Look. It’s not going to be easy. Mr. Stark could be anywhere right now, but we are the only ones who can find him and bring him back to his family—and I can’t do it alone,” Peter looks up from the computer. “So will you help me?”

 

He half expects for Harley to say no, to tell him to leave it to the adults, but when he sees the smirk spread on the kid’s face it’s obvious what his answer will be. 

 

“Tony would absolutely hate the idea of us going on a dangerous, treacherous mission to save his ass,” Harley says, crossing his arms. “So sign me the hell up, Parker. This is gonna be so much cooler than a conference.”

 

Peter glances at the clock.

 

“Happy will be back soon, so we’ll have to wait until later tonight to get out of here. That way hopefully the FBI agents will clear out, too,” says Peter.

 

“While we’re waiting, I’ll try to find more on this Reeves guy and the company he’s working for,” Harley declares, leaning forward towards the computer once again.

 

Peter nods. “Sounds like a plan,” he says.

 

Then, he stands up and goes to sit on the couch next to Morgan. “Hey, Mo. How’s it going?”

 

“Hey, Petey,” Morgan greets him softly, glancing up at him with her innocent doe eyes. “Are you and Harley going to save my daddy?”

 

Peter is taken aback by her question but decides not to lie to her.

 

People probably already doing enough of that to her right now.

 

“We’re gonna try our best,” Peter answers, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She cuddles into his side.

 

“Good. Because I miss him a lot,” Morgan says, her eyes sad.

 

“Me too, Mo,” Peter affirms. “Me too.”

 

* * *

 

 

Happy comes back soon after that, and night falls over Washington DC with no word on Tony. They eat their dinner in relative silence, with Harley glued to the computer and everyone else looking down at their plates. Pepper comes back at some point, but she doesn’t eat anything. Her eyes are red as if she’s been crying, and Peter hates that she’s hurting. 

 

Peter’s going to find Tony, for Pepper and for Morgan, because it’s the least he can do after they welcomed him into their family so easily. 

 

Halfway through dinner, as he’s thinking over all the information they’d found earlier, something hits him. 

 

Sanders Incorporated. 

 

That was the name of the guy who had approached Tony yesterday—the guy Tony had been cold towards. 

 

Later that night, when Happy is putting Morgan to bed and Pepper is once again gone, he shares this realization with Harley. 

 

“Do you think this Sanders guy has something to do with Tony’s disappearance?” Peter asks him as they stand in the kitchen, munching on chips. 

 

“It would make sense,” Harley shrugs, chewing on a chip thoughtfully. The computer is resting on the counter—Harley has been through countless files and protocols. None have helped so far. “But hey, check out what I found earlier.”

 

Harley pulls up an encrypted outgoing message on the computer, sent at 10:36 pm. “It was sent the exact moment Tony had FRIDAY activate Protocol Blue. Thing is, it’s not a normal message.”

 

Peter looks closer at the message and frowns when he sees what Harley is getting at. 

 

“It was sent to somewhere off-world,” Peter says, continuing to stare at it. “But… to who?”

 

“Thor?” Harley suggests. 

 

“Maybe… but I don’t see how Thor would be much help if Mr. Stark knew he was going to be kidnapped. If he’s off-world there’s nothing he could have done to protect Mr. Stark.”

 

“And why is Thor called “Protocol Blue”?” Harley adds the question to their growing pile of unanswered ones. 

 

They sit on those questions, for the time being, deciding that they’re far from the most important ones. 

 

They sit back down at the kitchen table and are surprised when Happy ends up joining them. The bodyguard looks the most tired Peter’s ever seen him, and that’s certainly saying something. 

 

“How are you two holding up?” Happy asks, folding his hands together while resting them on the table. 

 

“We’re okay,” Peter answers, glancing at Harley to see if he agrees. Harley has since closed the laptop and is now scrolling through his phone. Harley looks up and nods. 

 

“Good,” Happy sighs, letting them sit in silence for a minute or two before continuing to speak. “You know—and I’m only going to say this once, so listen carefully—I’m proud of you two for holding it together and not doing anything stupid. I know it’s hard for you.” 

 

Harley rolls his eyes. Peter snorts in amusement.  

 

“Tony would be really proud of you guys,” Happy continues. “He really cares about you—he’d want you both to be safe.”

 

Peter nods at that, and he can’t help but feel guilty as Happy bids them goodnight and retires to the couch where he’ll be sleeping for the night. 

 

Would Tony still be proud of them after what they’re about to do?

 

As soon as Happy starts to snore, Peter and Harley sneak out of the hotel room as quietly as they can, as to not wake anyone up. Before Peter does so, however, he reaches into one of Tony’s jacket pockets and pulls out the Iron Man chest emblem that contains the suit. 

 

Just in case. 

 

“Wait, how are we going to get out of here?” Peter asks suddenly once they’re out the door, realizing that they hadn’t worked this part of the plan out yet. 

 

Harley just grins and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a set of car keys. 

 

“Tony better not judge me for driving ever again,” Harley says, an eyebrow raised. 

 

They each go into their own hotel rooms and pack up their stuff, meeting back out in the hallway. Then, they quietly make their way towards the stairs, not wanting to take the elevator in fear of getting caught. On the way, they stop by room 1905, where they find Tony’s phone laying on the ground, it’s battery completely dead. 

 

“We’ll plug it in later,” Harley promises as Peter picks it up and studies it. “For right now, we have to get going.”

 

Peter shoves the phone into his pocket and follows Harley out of the room. 

 

Although they have to dodge multiple security guards, they finally make it to the hotel parking garage. Harley gets into the driver's seat, and Peter sits in the passenger's seat. Harley works on exiting the garage, while Peter gets started on navigation. 

 

“Reeves was spotted just a few hours ago on a security camera in Missouri,” Peter reports, the laptop opens on his lap. “That’s also where Sanders Inc. owns property. If Mr. Stark is anywhere, he’s there.”

 

Harley presses down on the gas pedal, pushing his car to go as fast as it can. Every minute they lose could prove fatal for Tony, so they have to work quickly. They speed away from the hotel and DC, driving into the night, fully intent on bringing their mentor home safely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many questions to be answered in future chapters!
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	4. Life is Full of Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Maybe speed up a little?” Peter suggests weaky.
> 
> “I’m going 100 in a 75,” Harley protests, nodding towards the speedometer which is leaning a bit too far to the right for Peter’s taste. “Any faster and we might take off into the air.”
> 
> The car continues to bridge the gap between them.
> 
> “Would that be such a bad thing?” Peter gulps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for disappearing, I've had a busy summer. That being said, I'm going to try to update more often—sorry about that!
> 
> Also, the number of chapters has changed because I'm taking this story in a different direction.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you like this one!

“Are you absolutely positive we’re going in the right direction?”

Peter sighs as he holds a large, flimsy map in his hands, rotating it as if there’s a better way to look at it. It’s still dark out, so Peter has to rely on the overhead lights on the interstate, which seem to become more and more scarce as time goes on. Harley keeps on glancing at him with a very skeptical look on his face.

“No, I’m not positive,” Peter huffs as he squints his eyes, hoping that will help him understand what he’s looking at better. “I’m not even sure I’m looking at the right _map_. I’ve gotta tell you, Keener, this would be a whole lot easier with GPS.”

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Sherlock,” Harley rolls his eyes, “but it’s not my fault that all I can afford is this crappy minivan. Not all of us are rolling in cash back at home.”

“And what makes you think I am?” Peter raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t you see my laptop?”

Harley is quiet for a moment, just focusing on the road.

“I guess living in New York ain’t cheap,” Harley finally says.

“No, it’s not,” Peter says in agreement, shaking his head. “My aunt works at the hospital a lot to support us. We’re a lot more fortunate than others, and we make enough to survive, but… I’ve never seen the beach. It would be too expensive to go to.”

Harley frowns, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Doesn’t Tony help you guys out at all?”

“He tries. I mean, he’s gonna pay my college tuition—you know how persistent he is on that matter,” Peter says, and Harley nods with a chuckle. “But Aunt May won’t accept charity in the form of a new apartment or car or job, so it's little things that Mr. Stark does to help. Like when he buys me food and stuff.”

“Sounds nice,” Harley bobs his head up and down, and even though he’s doing a good job at masking it, Peter can detect a bit of jealousy coming from his fellow interns.

“Have you ever thought about moving to New York?” Peter asks gently. “If you needed help, you and even your family could live at Avengers Compound—I’m sure Mr. Stark wouldn’t mind.”

“It’s crossed my mind,” Harley admits, shifting his hands on the steering wheel. “But my mom is like your aunt. She won’t accept charity.”

Peter nods in understanding, looking back down at the map of Maryland.

“Besides, I couldn’t leave Rose Hill,” Harley continues softly. “It’s where family is.”

And Peter gets that.

There’s nothing more important than family.

“You should come for the summer at least,” Peter suggests suddenly. “You could stay with me—I have a bunk bed and an Xbox.”

Harley nods, looking at Peter with a small smile that probably isn’t that commonly seen, having known him for a few days.

“I might take you up on that offer, Parker,” Harley says. Then, the corners of his mouth twist into a smirk. “Imagine Tony having to deal with both of us for an entire summer. I don’t know if he’d survive.”

“I think his hair would go gray all over,” Peter laughs. Harley joins in, but a moment later it dies down, and Peter is reminded of the fact that there is a chance Tony may never come home to be annoyed by them. Peter takes a deep breath, shoving that thought away. This is going to work. It has to—there’s no other way.

They drive through the night, the moon climbing across the sky, the stars twinkling around it. Peter stares out the window for a good majority of the night, watching the trees fly by as they get deeper and deeper into the countryside. It’s so incredibly beautiful to see a place so full of natural beauty—in New York, he can hardly see the stars, even on a clear night, just because of all the pollution.

Maybe under different circumstances, this would be an amazing vacation.

Hours pass and Peter fights to stay awake, knowing that if Harley can keep his eyes open then Peter can too.

Dawn is just beginning to break, and Peter has now torn his eyes away from the scenery to glance at Harley every two minutes, worried that his fellow intern will fall asleep behind the wheel.

“Do you wanna, uh, stop for a little bit?” Peter tries to keep his voice as neutral as possible—he doesn’t know what makes Harley tick yet, and he’s sure the boy could probably be beginning to get irritable.

“Nope,” Harley says, popping the ‘p’. “We need to get further. Every hour we lose could be the difference between Tony being alive or dead.”

“We’re no use to Mr. Stark if you fall asleep and crash the car,” Peter argues. “At the very least you could let me drive.”

“Let you drive? No way. I’m the only one who goes behind this wheel,” Harley states, leaving no room for further argument. Peter sighs in defeat, rubbing his face in his hands. This could end very badly.

Peter sits in silence as Harley continues to drive, passing the exit to a rest stop. This goes on as the sun begins to rise above the horizon, it’s soft and gentle rays of light washing over the green countryside. Peter even lets his eyes close as he soaks in the peacefulness of the early morning light—until not five minutes later when he hears Harley cursing softly under his breath.

Peter opens his eyes to see Harley twisting around in his seat, glancing through his rearview mirror with a look of annoyance on his face.

“What’s going on?” Peter questions him.

“This asshole is tailing me,” Harley replies, his tone angry. “But he won’t go around me.”

Peter twists in his chair to see a black SUV right behind them, seeming to be unwilling to pass them. His stomach flips with nervousness. What if it’s S.H.I.E.L.D. coming to take them back? How could they have tracked them? They’d been sure to leave their cell phones at home, and there’s no way they can track an old minivan that still has a tape player.

“Maybe speed up a little?” Peter suggests weaky.

“I’m going 100 in a 75,” Harley protests, nodding towards the speedometer which is leaning a bit too far to the right for Peter’s taste. “Any faster and we might take off into the air.”

The car continues to bridge the gap between them.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Peter gulps.

Suddenly, a masked person pops up from the sunroof of the SUV.

“Damn, they look like the stereotypical bad guys,” Harley comments as he desperately grips the steering wheel.

“We shouldn’t judge them on their appearance,” Peter whispers, hanging onto his last shred of hope that these guys aren’t on a mission to kill them.

Suddenly, the guy pulls out a gun and aims it towards their car—and shoots.

“Shit!” Harley shouts, swerving the car as Peter pulls his head back so that it’s not a clear target anymore. “Will you call them bad guys now?!”

The guy continues to shoot, and Peter realizes that if he doesn’t do something, they will quite literally end up as roadkill. So Peter reaches into his backpack, pulling his web-shooters onto his wrists. He opens up the sunroof and unbuckles his seatbelt, jumping up and shooting a web right at the guys face. The man drops the gun, causing it to clatter onto the road and disappear into the distance behind them, as the man loses his balance while grabbing at his face. Peter shoots another web at the windshield, and the car swerves off the road, crashing into a barbed wire fence right in front of a group of cattle.

Peter only has time for one sigh of relief before he realizes another black SUV is approaching in the previous one's place.

“There’s another car!” Peter cries as he drops back into his seat.

“ _You’re_ Spider-man?!” Harley screeches, looking back and forth between the road and Peter.

“There’s no way that’s S.H.I.E.L.D., so who the hell is after us?”

" _You're Spider-man?!"_

“Yes, I’m Spider-man—look, I’ll explain everything if we can get out of here alive,” Peter promises, watching as more gunshots fire at them, breaking the back window of the minivan. “Which, I’ve gotta be honest, isn’t looking too good!”

Harley seems to snap out of his shock and focuses on the road, swerving in and out of lanes to avoid the gunshots.

“Are there any more cars besides that one?” Harley questions, peering through his rearview mirror at the SUV.

“With our luck, we probably have an entire army of SUV’s on our tail,” Peter admits, gripping the edge of his chair.

Peter looks at the road ahead of them, and his heart stops when he sees another black SUV car coming straight towards them face on.

“Harley, look out!” Peter screams, causing Harley to jerk the car to the right, sending the car flying into the ditch below and right into the trees. Harley slams on the breaks, luckily managing to evade crashing straight into a tree trunk and killing them both, and the car comes to a stop, leaving a shocked Peter and Harley sitting there, eyes wide open and breathing heavily.

A car rolls up behind them, and Peter braces himself for a fight, his fingers hovering over his web-shooters. Harley and Peter turn and watch as a masked man gets out, gun in hand, and start walking towards them.

“We’re gonna be on an episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved,” Harley breathes, his body tensed up. “Ryan’s gonna think it was aliens.”

“No,” Peter shakes his head, gritting his teeth with determination. “We’re not going to die. We have to get to Mr. Stark, and we can’t do that dead.”

Peter opens the car door, ready to get out and fight when suddenly the man is impaled with a sword. They both freeze as they watch the man fall to the ground, revealing a blue, half metal lady with a bloody sword and a murderous expression on her face.

“Holy shit,” Harley chokes, “it will be aliens—and Shane will never believe it.”

Peter watches as the blue lady looks up at them, gripping the seat so hard his knuckles are turning white. She sheathes her sword on her back, cautiously approaching their car. She comes up to Peter’s side, peering at them through the open door, her expression unchanging.

“Are you Stark’s children?” She asks monotonously, her voice low.

“Um… what?” Peter says dumbly, unable to process what he’s been asked. Are they… Stark’s children?

Luckily, it seems Harley is quicker.

“What the hell? No, we’re not his kids—we’re just his interns.”

“I’m Peter,” Peter offers weakly as if that is enough evidence to prove who he is. “Hi.”

The blue lady frowns, glancing down at a device in her hands.

“You are Peter Parker and Harley Keener, correct?” the lady asks.

“Right,” Harley nods.

“Then you are Stark’s sons,” the lady concludes.

Harley sputters.

“Does “Parker” or “Keener” sound like “Stark” to you?”

“Um, I think you’re confused, ma’am,” Peter says gently, his eyebrows raised. Why is it that this blue lady seems somewhat familiar? “Mr. Stark only has one kid, and she’s a girl.”

The lady looks down at the device again, seemingly confused.

“Why would he call you his sons if you’re not?” She asks. Peter and Harley share a look.

“Do you know Mr. Stark?” Peter asks her, and the lady nods.

“I met him on the planet Titan. We were fighting Thanos,” the lady answers softly, looking up at the device, and suddenly something in Peter’s brain clicks.

“You’re Nebula—you’re one of the Guardians!” Peter exclaims. “I was there too—I’m Spider-man.”

“I’m still not over that, by the way,” Harley mutters from the driver's seat.

“I remember you,” Nebula nods as if it’s just clicking for her too.

“You guys gave us a ride back to Earth in your ship,” Peter continues. “Man, that was so cool!”

Then, his excitement melts into confusion.

“Why are you here?”

“Stark summoned me,” Nebula answers, glancing down at her device again. “He alerted me that he and his children were in danger, so I came to protect you.”

“Protocol Blue…” Peter whispers.

“But we’re not his children,” Harley reiterates.

“That does not matter—he wants you protected against whoever has taken him,” Nebula says.

“Do you know who’s taken him?” Peter asks, surging with sudden hope, but it deflates when Nebula shakes her head.

“No, I do not,” Nebula sighs, looking outwards towards the interstate. “But I think we can assume that those cars were sent by the person who has Stark.”

Peter climbs out of the car and walks over to where the masked man is lying, now dead. Nebula follows and uses her sword to turn the man over, revealing a “Sanders Inc” logo on the corner of his shirt.

“They’ve thrown all subtleties out the window, huh?” Harley comments, coming up behind Peter to look down at the guy.

“That or they didn’t think we’d get out of that situation alive,” Peter frowns, nudging the man with his toe.

“Why did they want to kill you?” Nebula asks, looking back up at Peter with shielded brown eyes.

“Beats me,” Peter shrugs, starting to feel so tired that his near-death experience is being written off in his mind as just a bad couple of minutes.

“Did Tony give our names to that Sanders guy the other day?” Harley questions, “because I think it’s pretty obvious he’s the guy behind everything.”

“I don’t think so…” Peter tries to think back, and he’s pretty sure Tony just introduced them as his interns. Then, he turns to Nebula. “Harley and I are on the way to his headquarters. We think that’s where he’s keeping Mr. Stark. Morgan isn’t here, so if you’re in charge of finding her, she’s probably still in DC.”

Nebula frowns, looking down at the device in her hands.

“I thought she was with you,” Nebula says, her voice quiet.

“What, you think we would bring Mr. Stark’s five-year-old daughter on a dangerous mission to save her dad?” Peter chuckles, leaning back against the trunk of the car.

“Her energy signal is located here,” Nebula shows Peter the device, and sure enough, there are three dots on the screen clustered in the same location.

“Maybe that’s your energy signal?” Harley suggests as he looks at the device.

Nebula just shakes her head.

“Well it’s not Morgan—that has to be a mistake,” Peter shakes his head humorously, “Here, I’ll prove it.”

He goes over to the minivan and pops open the trunk…

Only to reveal a familiar pair of brown eyes staring back at him.

Morgan Stark is in the trunk.

 

* * *

 

To say Peter has lost it is an understatement.

He’s now pacing back and forth like a tiger on drugs. He can’t stop glancing at Morgan, who is now perched in the back of the minivan and munching on a chocolate bar that Harley found in the glove box a few minutes ago. He has brought Tony Stark’s five-year-old daughter on the most dangerous road trip that’s ever been taken.

“We are so dead,” Peter groans as he continues to pace.

Harley sighs and checks his watch from where he’s sitting next to Morgan. Nebula is standing just to the left of Harley, arms crossed as she watches Peter pace.

“Dude, you need to calm down,” Harley attempts, “it’s not our fault that Morgan figured out which car was mine and snuck down to hide in it after Happy put her to bed.”

“If you think, it’s Happy’s fault,” Morgan innocently shrugs, taking another bite of chocolate thoughtfully. Then, through a mouthful of chocolate, “he wasn’t watching me close enough.”

“I guess blaming Happy for all your problems is a Stark family trait,” Harley says with an eyebrow raised as he peers down at her.

“Why the hell—sorry—heck are you not more terrified?” Peter whips around and demands at Harley.

“Because the scary blue lady is gonna take her back to Pepper and we’re gonna go on our merry way—right?”

“No, I wanna come with you!” Morgan protests, crossing her arms and glaring up at Harley with contempt.

“In your dreams, squirt—I’ve already had one near-death experience on this trip, and I don’t need your dad to give me another one,” Harley tells her, leaving no room for debate. Morgan then settles for pouting.

“You said you’re here to protect Tony’s kid,” Harley continues, looking back up at Nebula. He puts both hands on the little girl’s shoulders as if he’s presenting her. “Well, here she is. Whisk her away to safety.”

Peter looks to Nebula as well, waiting for her to tell them what to do. However, she doesn’t say anything, just looks to the ground and seemingly pondering the situation. Then, she looks back up, takes a breath, and says—

“I’m not sure that’s the right course of action for us.”

Peter and Harley are both taken aback.

“What? Why?” Peter frowns because the idea of not sending Morgan back home is simply absurd.

“If those guys were able to track your incredibly technology deprived vehicle, they could follow me back,” Nebula explains in her low voice.

Peter nods, glancing at the interstate road behind them. How had they found them in the middle of nowhere? He does agree that that could be dangerous.

“So what is the right course of action?” Harley asks, sharing a look with Peter.

“I think she should come with us, as we save Stark together,” Nebula answers confidently, looking up to meet Peter’s eyes.

“What?!”

“That’s crazy, blue lady!”

“Yes!”

Peter and Harley both turn to give Morgan scolding looks. She manages to wipe the smug smile off her face, but she’s still bouncing up and down with excitement. Peter turns back to Nebula.

“And you don’t think that’s too dangerous?” he asks, both eyebrows raised.

Nebula’s expression never falters.

Instead, she waves one hand towards the crashed cars and the dead Sanders Inc. people who had attacked them.

“Right now, we are the ones who can protect her the best,” Nebula points out. “In some way, she may be safer with us than without us.”

Peter doesn’t say anything, just resumes his pacing, albeit more calmly this time. Bringing Morgan along goes against every bone in his body that screams at him to protect her. What if she gets hurt—or worse? Tony would never forgive him, and he’d never be able to forgive himself.

But then, when he catches a glimpse of Harley’s face, he’s surprised not to see his friend look opposed to the idea.

“Harley?” Peter stops pacing focus on the boy. “What do you think?”

Harley sighs, drumming his fingers against the trunk of the car.

“I think that we’d be a lot safer with the blue lady’s swords,” Harley admits, looking guilty and torn.

“My name is Nebula,” Nebula mutters at Harley with a scowl.

“I just don’t know about this…” Peter chews on his bottom lip, trying to come to a decision when Morgan slides off of the car and walks towards Peter.

“Petey?”

“Yeah, Mo?” Peter kneels so that he’s on Morgan’s level.

“I’d be really scared without you,” Morgan whispers, and a tear wells up in her eye.

Peter’s heart almost completely breaks at that sight.

“I wanna stay with you and Harley,” Morgan continues, taking Peter’s large hand in her two tiny ones. “I wanna stay with my big brothers.”

That’s what gets him.

Seeing Morgan so frightened hurts him, and just like that, he doesn’t want to let her out of his sight.

“Okay, Morgan,” Peter sighs, and her face brightens—almost a little too quickly. “You can stay with us. But you have to listen to everything we tell you to do, okay?”

"I promise, Petey!"

Peter stands up, Morgan still clutching his hand.

“Alright, then we’ll all stay together,” Peter announces to their two other companions.

They have a long, risky road ahead of them, that’s for sure. It won’t be easy, and it’ll certainly take a bit to get used to working as a team, but Peter is confident that it will all work out. Maybe they’re all completely different people with completely different ages or customs, but they all have one common goal—to save Tony Stark and bring him back home.

It’ll be quite the road trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. That's that! Hope you liked it and I'll see you next time!

**Author's Note:**

> As always, let me know what you think! I love hearing feedback from you guys!


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